Tag: web development tips

The best and worst thing about being a web developement company is that the web is constantly changing. While this is exciting it also means that web developers must always be proactive about learning new techniques or programming languages, adapting to changes, and be willing and eager to accept new challenges. This could include tasks such as adapting existing frameworks to meet business requirements,software testing to identify technical problems, or optimizing and scaling a site to better perform with the back-end infrastructure. We thought we would compile a comprehensive list of web development tools and resources that can help you be more productive, stay informed, and become a better developer.

Web Development Tools and Resources for 2016

A lot fo these web development tools below are ones we use at Key CDN on a daily basis. We can’t include everything, but here are a couple of our favorites and other widely used ones. Hopefully, you find a new tool or resource that will aid you in your development workflow. Note: The tools and resources below are listed in no particular order.

JavaScript Libraries

Javascript is one of the most popular programming languages on the web. A Javascript library is a library of pre-written Javascript which allows easier access throughout the development of your website or application. For example, you can include a copy of Google’s hosted jQuery library by using the following snippet.

Front-end Frameworks

Front-end frameworks usually consist of a package that is made up of other files and folders, such as HTML, CSS, JavasScript, etc. There are also many stand-alone frameworks out there. We are a big fan of Boostrap and the main KeyCDN website is built on it. A solid framework can be an essential tool for front-end developers.

Bootstrap: HTML, CSS, and JS framework for developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.

Foundation: Family of responsive front-end frameworks that make it easy to design beautiful responsive websites, apps and emails that look amazing on any device.

Web Application Frameworks

A web application framework is a software framework designed to aid and alleviate some of the headache involved in the development of web applications and services. KeyCDN actually hosts a version of AngularJS, HTTP/2 and CORS enabled, that you can use in your projects completely free. See code below. Full documentation at angularcdn.com.

Ruby: Ruby on Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications, with the MVC pattern.

AngularJS: Lets you extend HTML vocabulary for your web application. AngularJS is a framework, even though it’s much more lightweight and sometime referred to as a library.

Task Runners / Package Managers

Tasks runners are all about automating your workflow. For example you can create a task and automate the minification of JavaScript. Then build and combine tasks to speed up development time. Package managers keep track of all the packages you use and make sure they are up to date and the specific version that you need.

Languages / Platforms

Behind all the web development tools is a language. A programming language is a formal constructed language designed to communicate with a computer and create programs in which you can control the behavior. And yes we realize some of these might not always be referred to as a language.

PHP: Popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development.

Brackets: A lightweight and powerful modern text editor; written in JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

Emacs: An extensible, customizable text editor with built-in functions to aid in quick modifications of text and code.

Markdown Editors

Markdown is a markup language in plain text using an easy syntax that can then be converted to HTML on the fly. Note: This is different than a WYSIWYG editor. Markdown editors are sometimes referred to as the in-between WYSIWYG and simply writing code.

Some of the text editors we mentioned above also support markdown. For example, there is amarkdown preview package for atom.

Icons

Almost every web developer, especially front-end developers will at some point or another needicons for their project. KeyCDN actually hosts a version of Font Awesome, HTTP/2 and CORS enabled, that you can use in your projects completely free. See code below. Full documentation atfontawesomecdn.com.

Font Awesome: Scalable vector icons that can instantly be customized — size, color, drop shadow, and anything that can be done with the power of CSS.

IconMonster: A free, high quality, monstrously big and continuously growing source of simple icons. One of our favorites!

Git Clients / Services

Git is a source code management system for software and web development known for distributed revision control. When working with teams, using a git client to push code changes from dev to production is a way to maintain the chaos and ensure things are tested so they don’t break your live web application or site.

SourceTree: A free Git & Mercurial client for Windows or Mac. Atlassian also makes a pretty cool team Git client called Bitbucket.

Local Dev Environments

Depending upon what OS you are running or the computer you currently have access to, it might be necessary to launch a quick local dev environment. There are a lot of free utilities that bundle Apache, mySQL, phpmyAdmin, etc. all together. This can be a quick way to test something on your local machine. A lot of them even have portable versions.

MAMP: Local server environment in a matter of seconds on OS X or Windows.

WampServer: Windows web development environment. It allows you to create web applications with Apache2, PHP and a MySQL database.

Vagrant: Create and configure lightweight, reproducible, and portable development environments.

Laragon: A great fast and easy way to create an isolated dev environment on Windows. Includes Mysql, PHP Memcached, Redis, Apache, and awesome for working with your Laravel projects.

Diff Checkers

Diff checkers can help you compare differences between files and then merge the changes. A lot of this can be done from CLI, but sometimes it can be helpful to see a more visual representation.

Diffchecker: Online diff tool to compare text differences between two text files. Great if you are on the go and quickly need to compare something.

Beyond Compare: A program to compare files and folders using simple, powerful commands that focus on the differences you’re interested in and ignore those you’re not.

A lot of the free text editors we mentioned above also have plugins or extensions which allow you to diff or compare your files.

Code Sharing / Experimenting

There is always that time when you are on Skype or Google hangout with another developer and you want him or her to take a quick look at your code. There are great team tools for sharing codelike Slack, but if they aren’t a member of your team there are some great quick alternatives. Remember not to share anything secure.

Collaboration Tools

Every great development team needs a way to stay in touch, collaborate, and be productive. A lot of teams work remotely now. The team at KeyCDN is actually spread across many different continents. Tools like these below can help employees streamline their development workflow.

Slack: Messaging app for teams that is on a mission to make your working life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive. One of our favorites, we use this at KeyCDN!

Trello: Flexible and visual way to organize anything with anyone. We also use this as KeyCDN.

Asana: Team collaboration tool for teams to track their work and results.

Jira: Built for every member of your software team to plan, track, and release great software or web applications.

Inspiration

We all need inspiration at some point or another. For front-end developers especially, from time to time, it can be beneficial to check out what other people are doing. This can be a great source of inspiration, new ideas, and making sure your web application or site doesn’t fall behind the times.

CodePen: Show off your latest creation and get feedback. Build a test case for that pesky bug. Find example design patterns and inspiration for your projects.

Dribble: A community of designers sharing screenshots of their work, process, and projects.

Website Speed Test Tools

The speed of a website can be a critical factor to its success. Faster loading websites can benefit from higher SEO rankings, higher conversion rates, lower bounce rates, and a better overall user experience and engagement. It is important to take advantage of the many free tools available for testing website speed.

Website Speed Test: A page speed test developed by KeyCDN that includes a waterfall breakdown and the website preview.

Google PageSpeed Insights: PageSpeed Insights analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page faster.

Web Development Communities

Every web developer has been there. They have a problem and what do they do? Well, they go to Google to find a quick answer. The web offers so much content right at our fingertips that it makes it easy to diagnose and troubleshoot problems when they arise. Check out a few good web development communities below.

Stack Overflow: Community of 4.7 million programmers, just like you, helping each other.

Front-end Front: A place where front-end developers can ask questions, share interesting links, and show their work to the rest of the community.

Hashnode: Global community for software developers to connect and learn programming from each other.

Refind: Community of founders, hackers, and designers who collect and share the best links on the web.

Web Development Newsletters

The last thing you probably need is another newsletter subscription. But these guys handpick some of the best web development and performance topics from around the web so you don’t have to!

wdrl.info: A handcrafted, carefully selected list of web development related resources. Curated and published usually every week.

webopsweekly.com: A weekly newsletter for Web developers focusing on web operations, infrastructure, deployment of apps, performance, and tooling, from the browser down to the metal.

web tools weekly: A front-end development and web design newsletter with a focus on tools. Each issue features a brief tip or tutorial, followed by a weekly round-up of various apps, scripts, plugins, and other resources.